Tissue-like multicellular development triggered by mechanical compression in archaea
The advent of clonal multicellularity is a critical evolutionary milestone, seen often in eukaryotes, rarely in bacteria, and only once in archaea. We show that uniaxial compression induces clonal multicellularity in haloarchaea, forming tissue-like structures. These archaeal tissues are mechanically and molecularly distinct from their unicellular lifestyle, mimicking several eukaryotic features. Archaeal tissues undergo a multinucleate stage followed by tubulin-independent cellularization, orchestrated by active membrane tension at a critical cell size. After cellularization, tissue junction elasticity becomes akin to that of animal tissues, giving rise to two cell types-peripheral (Per) and central scutoid (Scu) cells-with distinct actin and protein glycosylation polarity patterns. Our findings highlight the potential convergent evolution of a biophysical mechanism in the emergence of multicellular systems across domains of life.
Authors
- Vikram Alva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1188-473X)
- Luiz Thibério Rangel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4481-8221)
- Elad Stolovicki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3018-0017)
- John Mallon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3912-206X)
- Theopi Rados (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8663-2487)
- Tanmay A. M. Bharat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0168-0277)
- Lars D. Renner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0178-1788)
- Pedro Escudeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7754-6077)
- Sebastián Kadener (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0080-5987)
- Katherine Andre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6305-6613)
- Andriko von Kügelgen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0017-2414)
- Yoav Soen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7662-5195)
- Sinead Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0130-501X)
- Vera Thiel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2833-8911)
- Ido Caspy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1981-1017)
- Olivia S. Leland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2632-9647)
- Inés Lucía Patop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2929-0860)
Institutions
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (GB)
- Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Biology (DE)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Brandeis University (US)
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-04-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adu0047
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.48